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Penny Harvest NYC / Metro NY
Common Cents announces 2009/2010 Schools of ExcellenceJuly 1, 2010Penny Harvest schools in New York City work hard every year to bring philanthropy and service to their schools and communities. Some schools go above and beyond this duty— their actions and innovations lead to fresh ideas, lesson plans, and harvesting and teaching strategies, many of which may later become standard Penny Harvest practice, adopted into our core curriculum. These leaders are Penny Harvest Schools of Excellence. Common Cents celebrates a magical evening of storytellingMay 18, 2010Five talented storytellers took the stage last night at an event to benefit Common Cents and its popular service-learning program the Penny Harvest. Almost 300 friends and benefactors of Common Cents filled the cozy restaurant, City Winery, which was specially decorated for the occasion, to listen to the stories, sip wine, and participate in a silent auction. National Penny Harvest Roundtable for Haiti winners announcedMay 12, 2010Last week Penny Harvest students voted to donate $27,518, raised by more than 150 Penny Harvest schools across the country, to four organizations providing disaster relief in Haiti. The students participated in a National Penny Harvest Roundtable, which allowed them to democratically decide how to distribute the money amongst each organization. Common Cents receives grant from State Farm Youth Advisory BoardFebruary 25, 2010On Monday, February 22nd, State Farm’s Youth Advisory Board presented $64,064 to Common Cents in support of the Penny Harvest Program. The check presentation ceremony took place at State Farm’s New York City Office. Penny Harvesters are already responding to the crisis in HaitiJanuary 29, 2010Since the earthquake in Haiti two weeks ago, Common Cents has been flooded with phone calls and e-mails from concerned Penny Harvest coaches wondering how their schools can help the recovery efforts in Haiti. As Penny Harvest schools enter the second phase of the program, students have begun forming Philanthropy Roundtables at their schools. The Roundtables are a distinctive feature of the Penny Harvest which give children the power and the freedom to decide how to spend their harvest funds. A key issue for our students in the coming weeks will be exploring different ways to take action and help the people in Haiti. Penny Harvest Coaches gear up for Roundtable SeasonJanuary 24, 2010Last December, Claire Streit, a Penny Harvest Coach at PS 85 in The Bronx, visited a food pantry with a group of her students. The particular group of students she brought to the pantry for a service project were notoriously difficult and had a reputation for being trouble rousers in the classroom. However, the moment they entered the pantry, Claire began to see a transformation in each of her kids. The students witnessed firsthand the need within their own community, and the dignity that the staff treated clients with as they served them hot meals. “They were being empowered to help, to do something real,” Claire said. “I just sat in the back of the room and cried, I could see my kids growing up in front me.” Celebrating the Generosity of our YoungstersDecember 1, 2009At the beginning of December trucks will be rumbling through New York City carrying an unlikely load— hundreds of thousands of pounds of pennies. Last year the Penny Harvest collected about 700,000 dollars, primarily in copper (or zinc—pennies haven’t been primarily composed of copper since 1982). Though it only took about a month for students to collect the coins, and will take two weeks for Common Cents to pick them all up, it will take the bank four months to count and sort all the coins. Common Cents Hosts Penny Harvest Conference for TeachersOctober 20, 2009This October was the first time in several years Common Cents held a city-wide Penny Harvest professional development session. Common Cents periodically holds these sessions to bring together educators from across the city. The conference brought together new and experienced coaches from New York’s 5 boroughs to sit together and learn about the program, discuss Penny Harvest plans for the upcoming year, and share stories and lessons from their schools. Teach a child to fish: Reflections from a Fellow's deskSeptember 30, 2009A few weeks ago Micah Gibbens and I, newly minted Common Cents Fellows, were invited to Queens Village for I.S. 109’s Orientation Fair, a back to school kick-off featuring several community organizations from a dentist’s office to a local music and arts studio. I haven’t been to many Orientation Fairs, but this one must have been special because there was a live D.J.; a violin performance by a group of four year olds; and even a New York State Senator, Frank Padavan, who raffled out door prizes. This was only our second time representing Common Cents in public, and we thought of it as a challenge— an opportunity to promote Common Cents’ mission, to offer valuable information, and to generally present ourselves in an official capacity as the Penny Harvest “experts” we had just become. Celebrating Service: Introducing our new NYC Service Corps/ FellowsAugust 25, 2009Common Cents is the new home to Marianne Cabe, Micah Gibbens, Layla Malavet, Magdalena Polec and Arvin Temkar, members of the first New York City Civic Corps, a service program launched in April of this year by Mayor Bloomberg. NYC Civic Corps members are placed in various local organizations for the duration of the 2009/2010 school year to help spread the message of New York City volunteerism in local communities. Common Cents One of five non-profits to align with NYC schools to teach civic engagementApril 20, 2009Common Cents was named as one of the five educational partners of NYC Service, an initiative announced by Mayor Michael Bloomberg to further his pledge that New York City would lead the way in answering President Obama’s call for the nation to embrace a new era of service. Common Cents Challenges Schools to Support Their Local Food PantryMarch 13, 2009Children of the Penny Harvest are stepping up to do their part to support the 600 food pantries in New York City. In just one week, 80 food pantries have been adopted by Penny Harvest schools, donating $11,962.50 in emergency funds have been given by children to feed the hungry! Annual Leader Pin Volunteer event a success!March 12, 2009On Saturday, March 7th, over 200 volunteers gathered at Trinity Church and assembled over 35,000 Penny Harvest Leader Pins! That is enough pins for students in over 1,100 schools. Teaching Adults to say “Thank You”March 2, 2009On February 24th, 25th and 26th Common Cents held its fourth annual workshop for Penny Harvest Grantee Organizations. The goal of these workshops was to to help non-profits - who usually only receive donations from adults – create meaningful relationships with the young grant-makers of the Penny Harvest. Common Cents Receives Grant from State Farm’s Youth Advisory BoardFebruary 24, 2009On Monday, February 23rd, Youth Advisory Board Laura Mantell presented a $100,000 check to Executive Director, Teddy Gross, in support of Common Cents’ service-learning initiatives. The ceremony, which also featured the other NYC-based recipient, Children for Children, took place at PS 1 Alfred E. Smith School, a Penny Harvesting elementary school in Manhattan. The Day My Pennies Came ALIVE!February 20, 2009Isabella, a student PS 229 Dyker School in Brooklyn writes about why the Penny Harvest is so important. Common Cents Bowl-A-Thon a huge success!February 16, 2009On February 10th, over 100 supporters of Common Cents gathered at Bowlmor Lanes in New York City for Bowlin’ for Change! The Third Annual Bowl-A-Thon to benefit Common Cents. To date, the event has raised over $22,000 (which is enough to cover the costs of running the program in 44 schools!). Statement on Service by Teddy GrossFebruary 15, 2009A statement from Teddy Gross, Executive Director of Common Cents, Responding to Mayor Bloomberg's Challenge to Involve all New Yorkers in Service. PS 199 students visit Penny Harvest officeDecember 13, 2008Two dozen third grade students from PS 199 stopped by the Penny Harvest office on a cold December morning to present Common Cents with a framed collage of their colorful reflections on what the Penny Harvest means to them. A neighbor Harvest grows in BrooklynNovember 25, 2008Brooklyn, New York – Mother and daughter team Debra and Elizabeth Richardson “neighbor harvest” together, visiting families in their building to collect pennies for Common Cents’ Penny Harvest at M.S. 381, where Elizabeth is in the sixth grade. Every Penny Counts!November 14, 2008Organized by PS 335’s Penny Harvest student leadership team named, “A Beautiful Spirit Philanthropy Roundtable,” and Penny Harvest Coach Cleo Jarvis, students organized an assembly to inspire the whole school to continue collecting pennies by telling the tale of Elgin, a young boy who saves a local playground from demolition by organizing a penny harvest and uniting his community. The play was based on Elgin’s Jar, a storybook written by Common Cents executive director, Teddy Gross. An Accidental Icon: How One Child Transformed Himself through the Penny HarvestNovember 10, 2008Two years ago, fourth grader Jonathan Difo had his picture taken. That photo, snapped outside a Brooklyn food bank, ended up on tops of taxi cabs in New York and Las Vegas, printed on pamphlets mailed out nationally, and as the poster image for a national non-profit. All of a sudden, Jonathan was a little famous. Now, two years after Jonathan’s transformation, the photo became a defining image of both Common Cents and its corporate sponsor, Cole Haan. The photo was used in several promotional campaigns, including one where it was printed on the tops of taxi cabs. On Sept. 29, Common Cents visited P.S. 7 to present Jonathan with one of the taxi tops used in the campaign. Penny Harvesters Rock the Vote on Election DayNovember 7, 2008Election Day this year proved the perfect opportunity for many Penny Harvesters to engage their community members in donating their pennies in support of youth grant making and service. As voters showed up in record numbers to cast their ballots, Penny Harvesters joined them there to encourage voters to donate pennies for student directed charity. 18th Annual Penny Harvest Kicks-off!October 27, 2008October 27, 2008 - Starting today, over 1,000 schools nationwide - and nearly 500,000 students - will be scouring their homes and neighborhoods for idle pennies. From now until Thanksgiving, students will go door-to-door with their parents asking neighbors to help them better their communities by donating spare change. During the next four weeks, millions of pennies will be collected by Penny Harvesters, and thousands of Penny Harvesters will connect with their communities. Common Cents Prepares Teachers for the Penny HarvestOctober 24, 2008In October, new and veteran Penny Harvest Coaches gathered for several Professional Development Training Sessions. Common Cents runs these sessions to train and prepare nearly 1,000 Coaches for the year ahead, and also to get valuable feedback and fresh opinions from the Coaches themselves. |
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